Expect the Unexpected
by snowsa
Summary: Andrew decides to ship Chloe and company off to Seattle. While there, a new supernatural expresses interest in Derek, Tori starts acting like a semi-normal human being, and Simon gets drunk. And of course, Chloe is the only sane one left.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I noticed that there don't seem to be any Simon and Chloe stories, so I decided to write one. This doesn't mean I don't like Derek. It just means that I thought there should be a story about Simon and Chloe. See? Simple logic. Kind of.  
This story takes place right after The Awakening. If you haven't read the first four chapters of The Reckoning, go on Kelley Armstrong's website and read them. DO IT!! After you read my story, of course.  
I don't own anything. That's obvious from the fact that I'm doing this instead of off in Europe or something spending my thousands of dollars on stalking Tom Felton.**

..Seattle. They were shipping us off to Seattle. Where they had an average of 8 sunny days a year. What. The. Hell.

Andrew and the other supernaturals who had come to his meeting , if you could even call it that, decided that we should go to Seattle. Apparently they'd gotten some cryptic hint that Simon and Derek's dad was somewhere around there. Simon was all ready to leave right away. Derek....well, it's impossible to tell with him. And Tori, she just wanted to go somewhere with a shopping district. But I was a little more skeptic. If the message was as cryptic as they said, then that meant that it would have taken them a while to figure out. Which meant that they would have had to have gotten this mysterious message at least 6 or 7 hours ago. And they didn't feel the need to tell us? Suspicious is an understatement. They were hiding something. Whether they were doing this to get us as far away from them as possible or because they actually had a plan, they were hiding something.

And I don't like it when people are hiding things. Kind of ironic, considering all the involvement I've had with the Edison Group. And they are _all_ about secrets.

I was just sitting on the bed in the room I'd been sleeping it -it's not like I had much to pack- when Tori came racing into my room. Which was enough of a surprise as it is, but then she actually sat on the other end of the bed. And get this-she wasn't glaring. I think that was the single most confusing moment of my life.

"Chloe....I think I need your help." Scratch that._ Now_ it was the most confusing moment of my life. Tori Enright asking for help? From me? "I think my mom's trying to find a way to track us. And she's using me to do it." My only response was to raise my eyebrows, so she said, "You know how Simon's dad taught him that locating spell that he was trying, and_ failing_, I might add, to cast when we were still in Buffalo? I think my mom is doing that. But in a more...correct way."

"And you're asking me for help...why? You know that Simon and Derek know WAY more about this stuff than I do."

"No shit, Sherlock. But if I tell either of them, you know they'll ship me straight back. No matter _how_ I fight back."

"You don't know that, they might-"

"No, I do know that. And so do you. So help me stop my mom." I was about to ask how she knew what her mom was doing, but that would probably just piss her off. More. Piss her off more. There was no way she could _not_ be pissed off, having to come here and ask _me_ for help.

"Fine. I'll help. But not until we get to Seattle."

"How is that going to help? If we're already in Seattle, and she finds us, and then you fix it, we're kind of screwed. Fix it NOW."

"And how am I supposed to do that? I don't know anything about it. And don't you think that if her spell really worked fast enough that she would already have sent people here? Look, I'll do some research on the plane; casually ask Simon about it in a very unobvious way."

She glared at me and blew out a breath. "Fine. But don't think that I actually _like_ you now. Or that this is gonna be a reoccurring thing. Because it's not." And her saying that actually made me feel better. The day Tori actually becomes a nice person will be the day hell freezes over. And if hell froze over, I would be seriously freaked out. Who knows what that would do to all the freaky demons of the world? I still hadn't forgotten my experiences with that demi-demon when the Edison Group had me locked up.

Tori got up and walked out of the room as quickly as she could, leaving me to figure out what I was supposed to do. Actually, it wasn't that hard. All I had to do was casually ask Simon about protective spells you could cast on yourself, ones so that people maybe couldn't locate you, possibly even suggest he try one. Simple.

But every plan always has a flaw.

And the flaw in my plan? I had to make sure Derek couldn't hear.

**So.........what did you think? It's a little short, I know, but I just needed to get the story started first. I promise the next one will be longer! Of course, you have to press that pretty little green button down there first.......**


	2. Chapter 2

**I wasn't completely sure if I was going to continue this, but I _actually_ got reviews telling me to! That surprised me. I just want to point out _again_ that just because I'm writing a Simon/Chloe story doesn't mean I don't like Derek, I just wanted to do something different. Apparently SOME people think that I'm like, insulting Derek or something. I'm not!**

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate planes? You'd think I wouldn't, being the rich little Daddy's girl, (which I'm really not, at least not in the spoiled bitchy way everyone would assume.) but I've always hated planes. I don't know if it's the whole 9/11 thing or the fact that it's a huge who-knows-how-many-tons metal thing that's supposed to FLOAT in the air for however many hours, but I just really don't like planes.

And I get a little claustrophobic too, particularly in the bathrooms. Especially since the whole Tori-hitting-me-over-the-head-with-a-brick-and-leaving-me-locked-in-a-crawlspace thing.

Andrew drove us to the airport. We had an eleven o'clock PM flight. I had no idea what time we were going to land in Seattle, but I honestly didn't care that much.

You want to know the thing I couldn't believe most? The Edison Group were all after us, and yet Andrew was sending us to Seattle. _Alone_.

Tell me, how exactly do you think four teenagers fending for themselves in a huge city will work out? Add the fact that we were all supernaturals who had been experimented on and that we had the Edison Group after us and well....you pretty much get disaster.

Then again, isn't that what always happens around us?

We got to the airport around nine. Going through airport security? It took over an hour. I know it's so we don't get our heads sliced off by terrorists or whatever, but really? One of them asked me if I was hiding any cocaine in my necklace.

"Cocaine? Seriously? No. Do you need to crack it open and find out? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do that unless you have probable cause, and I really don't think that you have any of that other than the fact that I'm _wearing_ a _necklace_. I don't think that there's a law against that, is there?" I was getting really pissed off by that point. The guy mumbled something about teenagers having no respect anymore and turned to inspect someone else.

But they all pretty much left me alone after that.

Andrew couldn't go any farther than the gate. He gave us the address of the house of a supernatural that was somewhere in Europe at the moment, and told us we would be staying there. He also gave us a credit card and said that it was charged to someone the Edison Group had no idea existed, so it was completely safe to use.

And you want to know what he said right before he walked away? "Good luck." Good luck? He was shipping four possibly uncontrollable supernatural teenagers who probably hadn't even completely discovered their powers yet off to Seattle. _By themselves_. And all he had to say was 'Good luck'? I wanted so badly to just scream all of that at him.

But that might be a slightly suspicious thing to scream in an airport, wouldn't it? That would probably by me a one-way ticket to nice little rubber room with a straitjacket. And I'd already been too close for comfort to one of those, hadn't I?

I'd gotten lucky with the plane tickets. We'd been some of the last people to buy them, and Seattle was a pretty popular destination. There had been two seats right next to eachother in coach, one seat in first class, and one in buisness class. Tori obviously took the first class seat, and Simon and I took coach. Which left Derek to take the buisness class seat. I was almost sure he wouldn't be able to hear us.

But _almost_ isn't sure enough.

So what was I going to do to make sure he didn't hear us? I was going to ask him.

Of course, I knew that would just make him more curious, more tempted to listen. But I had a plan.

So while Simon and Tori were working out baggage stuff, I went over to Derek.

"Derek, can I ask you for a favor?" I asked him innocently. He looked at me and grumbled something about favors never getting returned anymore, but didn't protest, so I continued. "Can you just...not....listen in while we're on the plane?" He raised an eyebrow, so I continued, pretending to feel a little uncomfortable and hoping I looked a slightly awkward. "Well, see, there are a few...things....I want to talk to Simon about, and I think it would be a little....awkward...if you were listening." I almost smiled when I saw the look in his eyes, understanding and a little shock.

"Um, yeah, sure, I'll just.....watch one of those weird videos or something." He mumbled awkwardly.

"Kay. Thanks." I smiled at him a little uncomfortably. Then he walked away and it turned into a full-blown grin.

The beauty of going to a school dedicated to the arts?

They made us all take acting classes.

**********

Simon and I just made small talk for the first hour or so of the plane ride. At one point we were talking about a planetarium I'd gone to when I was eight while we ate crappy plane pretzels. During a moment of silence, I finally decided to ask him.

"Hey, Simon, I've been meaning to ask you something. You know that locating spell you've been trying to use?" He looked at me, a little confused, and nodded. "Is there any way to like...turn it off, or block it or whatever?"

Simon smiled, realizing that I wasn't going to start asking him why he couldn't do it. "Yeah, sure. It's kind of like a cloak of invisibility, it just.....doesn't make you invisible."

I rolled my eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. That cleared everything up. A cloak of invisibility that doesn't make you invisible." I said, my voice full of playful sarcasm.

He laughed. "Yeah, something like that. It repels locating spells onto someplace in another country. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but it repels the spells' signal into the air and then it gets carried somewhere else."

"Huh. So this invisibility thing, is it like, a spell or something?"

"No. You buy it at one of the supernatural stores." I raised my eyebrows, and he laughed, probably at how confused I looked. "They're everywhere, Chloe. I told you, there are like, supernatural communities. I'm sure there's a store in Seattle. Maybe we can go to one. Why'd you want to know?"

I knew Simon wasn't asking the question suspiciously, but it still made me a little nervous. "No reason, really, I just thought maybe you should try one, you know? Or that maybe that's what your dad is using because he doesn't want anyone _else_ to find him."

Simon's expression was thoughtful. "That's actually something I hadn't thought of." His eyes looked a little hopeful, something I hadn't seen in a while. "You might just be right, Chloe." He smiled at me.

"Oh, thanks for having so much faith in me, you sound soooo _not_ shocked......."

He laughed as a voice echoed throughout the plane. "Ladies and gentleman, please put your seat belts on as we start our descent into Seattle....." Apparently we'd picked a good day to fly, because amazingly it wasn't raining. And this was Seattle. First word that comes to mind when you hear Seattle? Rain. Well, _Grey's Anatomy_ also came to mind, but that's technically two words.

So now I knew how to block the locating spells, I just had to figure out how to get one of these non-invisibility invisibility cloaks......

**Sorry if this wasn't one of my best chapters, but in two chapters.....some fun things are going to happen.**

**Tee hee, I'm just waiting to get some more reviews here so I can write the Simon getting drunk chapter, and so I can bring in my OC, but I don't really know what to name her, so any ideas? I was thinking either Elena, Paige, or Autumn. Press the rectangularish green button down there and tell me which one you like!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, so this is the chapter where my OC comes in. I was planning on doing it next chapter but then I got this whole huge idea about how it could go, so I decided to bring her in in this chapter.**

The house was _huge_. And I'm not talking snotty little rich kid with three nannies huge, I'm talking three times your average celebrity house. And even the yard..........I think the whole thing probably took up over 400 acres. Not to mention the fact that all of it was surrounded by woods. I didn't even _want_ to think about how many acres that added.

And that was just the outside.

When we walked in, I swear Tori almost passed out. It had one of those kind of foyer things, with two grand staircases on both sides that curved slightly. We could literally see our reflections in the floor as we walked farther into the house.

As soon as we discovered the kitchen, Tori, Simon, and Derek all went straight for the fridge. I was going to point out that considering apparently no one was here, there probably wouldn't be any food, but I was wrong. The fridge was filled with all kinds of food, even food that was healthy for Simon.

I was going to get something to eat but.........I really had to pee. Remember when I said I got claustrophobic on planes, especially in the bathrooms? I meant it. So throughout that whole plane ride I'd just been drinking Coke and laughing with Simon, avoiding the bathrooms.......

And the worst part about getting sent to a huge mansion by yourselves? There's no one to show you Where. The. Hell. The. Freaking. Bathroom. Is.

So my solution? Walk randomly through the house, opening every single door I passed, hoping it was a bathroom. After probably ten minutes, (no joke) I finally found one. And by that time, I _really_ had to pee. Badly.

When I was done with me "bodily functions" or whatever, I actually took a look at the bathroom.

I was pretty shocked. But I got over that quickly.

I mean, why do you need to have a fancy bathroom with fancy towels hanging on the wall and a fancy sink that functions the same as any other normal sink? In a bathroom, you do your business, wash your hands, and then you walk out. It's a _bathroom_ for Christ's sake! Why in the world would you waste money on _that_? Even if you have more money then you could possibly ever spend, why waste it on a fancy bathroom? Give the money to starving kids in Africa or the ASPCA or something. Don't spend it on a freaking _bathroom_!!

When I was finally done ranting to myself about the waste of money on a fancy bathroom, I opened the door and walked out, only to run straight into a girl! Of course, I screamed a little bit, considering I had no idea who the hell this girl was, except I knew she wasn't a ghost considering I'd discovered she was solid when I'd run into her.

Simon, Derek, and Tori came running into the room and froze when they saw her. She rolled her eyes at us all.

"Relax. I live here, this is my dad's house. He's away on business in Europe right now." We continued to stare at her cautiously. "Call Andrew and ask him if you want to! I know he knows I'm here. I wouldn't be surprised if he purposely forgot to tell you guys...."

Derek shook his head slightly, as if to clear it, and muttered, "Yeah, I _will_ go call Andrew." After a moment, Simon followed him and Tori went back into the kitchen.

The girl smiled at me. I smiled back tentatively; I still didn't know whether she was telling the truth or if she was a creepy homicidal maniac sent by the Edison Group to poison our food and chop our heads off in our sleep. (Yes, that's where my mind goes now. You would be paranoid too if you had Edison Group people stalking you.)

She rolled her eyes again. "I'm Autumn Cartwright. She put her hand out."

I shook it and said, "Chloe." There was no way I was giving her my full name.

Autumn was actually very pretty, now that I looked at her. She had dark red hair pulled back in a black headband that ended in layers at right at her collarbone. She had dark green eyes, (That if I was honest, kind of creeped me out) and a heart shaped face with defined cheekbones and a small cluster of light freckles across her cheeks and nose. She was taller than me, (who isn't) and seemed like she was probably pretty tall for her age, which only seemed to be about a year or so older than me.

"So what are you?" She asked me, seeming genuinely curious.

"Ummm....Huh?"

She rolled her eyes. (She seemed to do that a lot.) "What race? You know, sorcerer, half demon, werewolf, all that stuff? Me, I'm a necromancer."

"Oh. Yeah, me too. I'm a necromancer too."

Autumn raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really? Do you have any idea how powerful you are yet?"

"Oh, I umm....."

She's accidentally-raise-the-dead powerful. I heard Simon say from behind me.

Autumn raised her eyebrows again, this time in shock. "Raise the dead? You shouldn't be able to do it at _all_, let alone accidentally, for years."

"Yeah well, that's apparently what happens when the Edison Group decides to experiment on you before you're even born." Simon said a little harshly.

I laughed bitterly. "_Experimented on? _They tried to play God and failed, Simon. And we're the result of that."

There was a silence before Autumn said a little awkwardly, "Well okay then. I see you guys are the optimists of the year." She turned to Derek, who had walked into the room right after Simon. "So did you call Andrew?"

"Yeah." He grunted.

"So.....What did he say?" She prompted when he didn't elaborate.

Derek sighed. "He said yeah, some girl named Autumn Cartwright is supposed to be living here, and that she's the daughter of the guy that owns this house."

"A girl named Autumn Cartwright that he conveniently forgot to tell us about." I muttered.

"Yup. That's Andrew alright." She glanced at the food Simon and Tori were both still holding. "I guess I don't have to offer you guys any food, do I?"

"Ugh!" Tori exclaimed. "Does this mean every time we want to do something, we have to ask for your permission? 'Cause I'm not gonna do that."

Autumn looked at Tori with an amused glint in her eyes. "No, I guess not. Even if I said you did, you wouldn't, so there's really no point."

"Good. Now can I go find a room and get some sleep? 'Cause planes aren't the easiest to sleep on, and I like the idea of a comfortable bed."

Autumn gave a little half laugh and said, "Sure, just go up three flights of stairs. I'm sure you'll like one of the spare rooms up there." She turned to me. "You too, Chloe. Simon and...."

"Derek." I provided.

"Right. Simon and Derek, if you go up two flights of stairs, you should find some rooms to your liking."

We all started towards the front of the house to the staircases, but Autumn stopped us. "Hey guys, wait. I just kind of want to know what race you all are. Just to be safe, so I don't like, insult you or anything. This one time, I accidentally thought this kind of creepy guy was a sorcerer, but it turned out-"

"Witch. Sorcerer. Whatever you want to call it." Tori cut her off.

"Yeah. Me too." Simon mumbled.

"Oh. Cool. I'm a necromancer." Autumn said perkily.

"Oh joy. Another one." Derek muttered under his breath. We all still heard him, though.

"Yes, but I can't accidentally _or_ purposely raise the dead." She eyed me for a second, then turned to Derek. "And you?"

"Werewolf." He muttered sullenly.

"Really? I haven't met one of you in a while. Do you think maybe-"

Tori cut her off again. "Yeah, he's a super-werewolf, we know. Can we go to sleep now? Like I said, we were on a plane for I don't know how many hours, and-"

This time_ I_ cut _Tori_ off. "And we'd all like to get some sleep. So let's go." I started walking up the stairs and heard everyone else behind me.

I didn't sense anything particularly evil about Autumn. She seemed a little too perky and over-eager to me, but maybe that's the way a lot of supernaturals that weren't involved with experimentation and all that stuff were.

Well.....No. I didn't really believe that.

Then again, when had trusting _my_ judgment really gotten us anywhere?

**PRESS THE BUTTON!!! Come on, you know you want to........And even if you don't.......Do it anyways.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: JUST GIVE ME SOME FREAKING REVIEWS!!!!!! Pretty pretty please?**

**My shoulder is killing me right now because of volleyball, (I really HATE serving) so it was kind of painful to type this and I kind of wanted to just be done with it, so sorry if it's not the best.**

Until you've slept on a waterbed, you've never really slept. I know that some people think that they're annoying, but I am _not_ one of those people. At first I was kind of paranoid, thinking that with my luck it would probably just suddenly burst in the middle of the night and drown me in my sleep.

But as soon as I laid down, that irrational (well, maybe not entirely irrational) fear went away. I fell asleep instantly in the room that was literally twelve times the size of my room at the Lyle House. And when I woke up, I almost refused to get off the bed. But eventually my stomach started growling, so I decided to get up and wander around, hopefully being lucky enough to stumble into the kitchen.

And I was. After fifteen minutes.

Derek, Simon, Tori, and Autumn were all at the polished table eating pancakes. Simon looked up at me as I walked in and smiled.

"Finally, Chloe. We were starting to think a scary little puppy ghost came and got you in your sleep."

I raised an eyebrow and said, "Puppy? I think it would take a lot more than a puppy to get me. I could just karate chop him and then send him off to puppy heaven......If that's where he's supposed to go."

"Hey!" Autumn said indignantly yet still jokingly. "That's my puppy you're talking about."

"Well if we're talking about the puppy that's sitting over by the window, and I'm assuming we are, I don't understand how he's exactly a ghost. That _thing_ in the corner looks pretty solid to me."

Simon smiled. "Fine. So what took you so long?"

I had gotten a stack of pancakes and sat down at the table, saying nonchalantly, "Oh, I was just busy with my unnatural attachment to the waterbed in my room."

Tori raised an eyebrow and Autumn and Simon both laughed. I doubt Derek even heard anything, he was concentrating on his food so hard.

Who really needs to concentrate on food, anyways? All you have to do is make sure it gets in your mouth and doesn't fall everywhere else.

"So you like the waterbed, huh?" Autumn asked me. I just nodded because my mouth was full of pancake.

When I'd finally swallowed, I asked her, "Are you usually here by yourself a lot?"

"I guess so, but I wouldn't really consider it alone. Most of the time my Aunt Kate and her son Jason come and stay here when Dad leaves. I guess they didn't come this time because Dad and Aunt Kate didn't think this place needed to become hormone central." Autumn said, raising her eyebrows at both me and Tori.

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't exactly have time for that stuff, what with a whole group of crazy scientists after me." I told her.

Tori just shrugged. "Well, if he's hot, what are you gonna do......." I smiled. That's exactly what you'd expect to come out of Tori's mouth.

"Ewww!! He's my cousin. My _first_ cousin, at that. Some of those serious freaks think that anything past a second cousin doesn't count." She shuddered delicately. It almost seemed like delicately was the way she did everything. Although she was tall and graceful, she seemed like one of those people that was always the Damsel In Distress. She was wearing a bright blue tank top with white shorts on and fluffy slippers. Her hair was up and she handled the fork she was using as if it would break at any second.

Truthfully, I thought she would be the one to break.

Not in the way-too-skinny-and-she-looks-like-you-could-snap-her-in-half way, but in the way that if something horrible was about to happen, she wouldn't last two seconds.

Which in our situation is a pretty big liability.

Then again, Andrew had told us this place would be safe, that the Edison Group wouldn't be able to find us here.

But I wasn't so sure I trusted Andrew anymore.

I mean, think about it. The way we'd gotten here, how they'd just shipped us off to Seattle, supposedly because they thought Simon's dad was here since they'd got some weird message. If they'd gotten a message, why didn't they let us listen to it, or see it or whatever. And if they'd had trouble figuring it out, why didn't they come get us to help? Especially Derek, he was good with that kind of stuff. And if the message had been so cryptic, how had they figured it out so fast? And how could they be sure they'd gotten it right?

"Chloe!" Simon's voice snapped me out my head. I was glad; My mind was spinning with all the questions and the longer I thought about it all, the more questions popped up.

I looked at him and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I kind of spaced for a second."

He smiled warmly at me and for the first time I realized that Derek, Tori, and Autumn were all gone. I hadn't even known that they'd left! Simon noticed me looking and laughed. "Yeah, I think you spaced for more than a second." He looked back at me, a little concern in his eyes. "So what were you thinking about?"

I contemplated whether or not I should tell him the truth. Simon had looked so excited at the prospect of finding his dad, and I didn't want to ruin that. But on the other hand, Simon really _deserved_ to know. It was his dad we were here for, and we might not even be able to find him. And I had no idea whether this whole thing was a set-up or just a plot to get us out of Andrew's hair. I thought maybe Simon could help.

So I told him everything I'd suspected from the start, watching his face carefully to see his reaction. If he was going to get angry because I was accusing Andrew, I wanted some warning.

But he didn't get angry at all. His brow was furrowed, and he looked like he was really considering what I was saying. When I was done, he said, "Yeah, Derek and I both noticed that too. We were talking about it before we left; We figured you'd noticed too. We were deliberating about whether or not we should go, but in the end Derek said we might as well because it would probably throw off the Edison Group. I'm not really sure what this is all about, but I don't think it's a set up. I just can't see Andrew doing that." He paused and looked at me. "I know that there's a pretty slim chance that my dad's actually here, but I'm going to try to find him anyways. I'm just not really sure where to do it."

This was the perfect opportunity. "Why don't you try one of those supernatural stores? I'm sure someone might even be able to help, make it stronger or something."

Simon's eyes glittered. I'd never noticed how they looked even warmer than usual when they did. "Yeah! You know, you've been getting really good ideas lately. Got any brilliant ghost friends stalking you?"

I smacked his arm playfully. "Hey! Are you insinuating that I can't come up with smart ideas on my own? Because I can. I don't need a creepy ghost stalking me and telling me what to do, and even if I had one of those, do you really think I would listen to it? Although, there was this one time that-"

Simon cut me off me off by putting his hand over my mouth. His eyes still glittered with amusement, but his tone was serious when he said, "I know, Chloe. You can come up with amazing ideas on your own. You always do." I raised an eyebrow skeptically. Well, almost always." He amended with a grin. He finally took his hand off my mouth. "Okay?" He asked. I just nodded. His face was very close, and I couldn't seem to look away from his eyes.

But Autumn's puppy came bounding into the kitchen, jumping up onto my lap with her tongue hanging out. Kind of a moment killer, wouldn't you say? I looked down and laughed, shaking my head. Then I looked up at Simon. "Well, we should probably get dressed if we want to leave before noon." I looked at the clock and it said 12:20. Jeez, I really had slept in. "I mean, if we want to get there before one." Simon smiled at me attempt of being casual about the fact that I'd slept until noon in some weird place.

"We?"

"Well, yeah, we. You think I'd let you go off into one of my brilliant ideas without me?" I asked incredulously. He laughed and walked up the stairs.

After Simon's little speech, I was feeling incredibly guilty about not telling him the real reason why I was going with him. But Tori was right, if either Simon or Derek found out that she thought her mom could find her, they'd probably send her on a plane to Africa.

And the sad part? I knew that wasn't an exaggeration.

***************

After some convincing, Simon and I left to go to this supernatural store or whatever. Autumn was perfectly fine with staying home, but I'd had to convince Derek not to come with us. It would be hard enough to get the cloak without Simon noticing, I would never get it if Derek was there. I think Derek figured that I wanted to be alone with Simon again, so he finally agreed to stay home. I wasn't going to correct him about the Simon thing.

Because, truthfully? I kind of _did_ want to be alone with Simon.

I know, I know, we were supernaturals who had some messed up DNA with a group of creepy crazy scientists after us. But I can't help it! Even with all the weird stuff going on, I was still a teenage girl. And Simon happened to be a very cute teenage boy. One who I could always count on to cheer me up, and one that would listen when I needed him too.

But that shouldn't matter. Like I'd told Autumn earlier, I don't have time for stuff like that. I didn't need any more distractions.

The place was down one of those alleys that even the homeless people wouldn't go down because it was too creepy, but Simon said he was sure we were in the right place so I walked down the alley with him.

Painted on the wall of one of the buildings was a midnight blue Amaryllis. Simon saw me looking and said, "That's how we know this is the place. All the stores in our community have a a flower like that painted near the door. Although it's usually a different color, because otherwise it would start to look like there's some weirdo gang symbol popping up all over the world, so people would start getting suspicious." Suspicious of what? Terrorists?

Yeah, cuz terrorists are gonna paint pretty flowers on brick buildings.

He walked up to the door and knocked. A very small girl who looked to be about eight opened the door and smiled at us. "Password?"

Simon looked at me, a little weary. "Autumn didn't really tell me anything about a password....."

The little girl's smile widened even more. "Oh, Autumn sent you? Come right in."

I looked at Simon and he motioned me to go first.

Right, 'cause sending me into an unknown place in a creepy ally is the just the best idea ever........

Especially considering that little girl's face had gone all creepy when Simon had mentioned Autumn. And I mean _really_ creepy. Her teeth had suddenly shown when her smile widened, and I could have sworn I saw fangs. _Fangs._

But that was impossible. I was just hallucinating, because vampires aren't real.

...........Are they?

I didn't really get a chance to ask Simon, because the little girl came back and beckoned us inside. I took a deep breath to prepare myself and stepped over the threshold.

**OMG! My longest chapter ever. Which is kind of pathetic, considering it's barely over 2000 words. But I'm still proud! And who knows, maybe pressing that little button down there might make my next chapter 3000 words.......**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: No one reviewed. Which meant I had to deprive you for a little while. I'm terribly sorry.**

**Haha. No, I'm really not sorry. I had other stories to work on. But one of them only has, like, one chapter left. Which should mean quicker updates.**

**Only if you review, of course.**

**Songs:**

**Hey, Soul Sister- Train**

**Follow Me Down- 3OH!3 ft. Neon Hitch (Yes, I know I've used that for like, all of my stories. But I listen to it a lot.)**

The store was circular and cozy, but there were many doors leading to places I didn't even want to think about. The little girl, who I was still completely freaked out by, told us to call her Emily.

Personally, I was okay not calling her anything at all. Simon immediately went to talk to the guy at the register to ask the guy about his locating spell, and even though I didn't want to, I went over to the little girl.

"Yes?" She asked, smiling eerily up at me.

I sighed, mentally readying myself. "Do you happen to have any of those locating spell repelling cloaks?"

She smiled evilly at me again. "Oh yes, just come into this back room with me." She started walking towards one of the doors I'd seen earlier. I knew I shouldn't follow her; I wasn't that stupid.

But I was stupid enough to do it anyways.

I took a deep breath to steel myself, then started following her.

Emily led me into a dark room with masonry walls. There were a few tables pushed up against the wall with what looked like Persian rugs hanging over them. I assumed these were the noninvisiblity invisibility cloaks.

I went over to a black one with white and blue patterns all over it. "How much?" I asked casually.

She looked at me, and something glittered in her eyes. She smiled that creepy smile again, and this time I _know_ I saw them.

I hadn't just imaginated it. She really had them. Fangs.

"Oh, you don't have to pay much. Just a little blood." She snarled as she suddenly jumped across the room and then she was suddenly on my back. "This may hurt just a little." Then her fangs pierced my skin and she sunk them deeper, greedily drinking my blood. I tried to fight back, but it was completely useless. My limbs felt like balloons, like I didn't have control of them. Emily must have found an artery or something, because I was getting dizzy fast. I mean _really_ dizzy.

I made a last attempt: I screamed. As loud as it is humanly possible for a girl to scream.

I heard a scuffle and three separate gasps, saw a ghost that looked suspiciously like Liz charging, and then everything went black as I sunk deeper into the darkness.

* * *

I'm not really sure when I actually woke up. At first, I could only hear voices, but I couldn't seem to open my eyes or move. After a little while, I found I could move slightly, but I really didn't want to. Finally, my eyelids fluttered open, only to be immediately closed because it was too bright.

"Oh, sorry." I heard a female voice say. There was a rustling, and the burning I could see even with my eyes closed dulled a bit. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

I did as the girl said, and found myself back in the room with the waterbed. At first I struggled to remember where I was, but then it clicked in my head: Seattle.

I tried to sit up, but my attempt failed miserably. I think I may have whimpered a little too, which was really embarrassing, because Simon got up from his perch on the desk and came over to sit on the bed with a worried look.

Oh God, it _hurt_. Every muscle in my body ached, like I'd fallen off a cliff or something. But I was pretty sure that wasn't what had happened, so I asked, "What.....What happened?" My voice came out hoarse and raspy, and even _that_ hurt.

Simon's expression was pained, and although I knew Derek, Autumn, and Tori were also in the room, I wanted him to explain. So I looked directly at him and waited.

"You....you don't remember?" I tried shaking my head, but then realized that_ that was a bad idea._ Simon seemed to get the idea, though. He cleared his throat. "We went to a supernatural store, and there was this little girl there. She was a.....vampire, for all intensive purposes." He paused as I gasped and it all came rushing back to me.

I brought my hand up to my (OWWW!) neck to discover gauze. I was kind of afraid to touch it. "She....She bit me, didn't she."

Simon grimaced. "Yeah. If Carlos and I had come in just a minute later, you would've been dead." He shuddered and I reached over (Still ow!) to take his hand.

"But you didn't. So don't go all self-guilt on me here, cuz that's just way too much like Twilight." He gave me half a smile.

"So what was this for?" Derek's voice rumbled from the corner. I turned my head to look at him. He was holding the black, white, and blue cloak.

"You were holding it when.....when we found you." Simon said, still struggling.

"It's like, an Arabian rug or something. It looked pretty cool, and it's not like, cursed or anything, so I was going to buy it." I know I'm a horrible liar, but considering I could barely move at that moment, I was pretty sure they all bought it. Even Derek.

Simon looked over at it. "Hmm. Does look pretty cool. And warm." He looked back at me, smiling. "And we all know how you midgets need warmth more than the rest of us." He teased. I smiled back. I wasn't going comment on the short joke, I was just happy he was in a good enough mood to tease.

I shot Tori a signifigant look, looking between her and the "Arabian rug". Her expression was confused for a second, and then realization dawned in her eyes. She gave me a tight nod and I turned away quickly before anyone could notice.

And it looked like no one did.

Hey, maybe I finally managed to keep a secret from these people for once.

Accomplishment? Hell yes.

* * *

For the next two days, I was stuck in that stupid bed. Don't get me wrong, I still love waterbeds, but I get stir-crazy if I have to stay in one room for so long.

Simon was the one that always brought me my food and stayed with me when I needed to talk. Not talk about anything serious, just talk. Hello? Stuck in a room for over two days.

The only time either of us talked about the.....incident, was when I'd asked what the hell she was. Simon had responded that for all intentional purposes she was a vampire, but that really it was some weird kind of demon.

"They haven't been around for over three thousand years. It's creepy, them just suddenly popping up." This is what he'd said. Creepy was an understatement. If these vampire demon things hadn't been around for so long, why were they suddenly here?

Autumn came in a lot too. I really didn't mind her, in fact, I was actually starting to like her. She seemed so innocent, like she'd never seen any of the horrors the world holds.

I guess that was probably because she'd never been experimented on.

Tori came in a few times. The first time it was to ask me "What the fuck am I supposed to do with this cloak thing?" and to say "There is no way in hell that I'm gonna carry this thing around on my shoulders all the time. Or ever." At this time, I patiently told her that, no, you probably don't have to wear it on your shoulders all the time, you just need to keep it somewhere near you.

She didn't come back after that.

But when I was finally deemed healthy enough to _walk_, what did I do? I bounded down eight different flights of stairs and yet somehow ended up on the topmost floor. Do NOT ask how that happened. I have no idea.

I don't know if I was loopy or something, but it sure seemed like it. When Autumn finally found me and brought me to the theater room in the basement where everyone else was, I couldn't stop giggling.

It was seriously embarrassing. At least, when I remembered it in the morning.

When I was actually sane, I found Simon sitting in his room. I came in and we started talking casually, until I finally sighed. "Simon. I got bitten by a vampire. I get it, I lost some blood, but why did everything _hurt_ so much after?"

Simon sighed too. "It's the poison. It was working it's way through your bloodstream. It would've been much worse if she'd actually killed you."

"That makes absolutely no sense. If I was dead, how would the pain be worse?"

He looked at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, you're never technically dead. But she bites you, drinks a lot of your blood, enough to kill you, but the poison keeps you alive. It hurts even worse. Then, in exactly a week, you wake up one morning and it suddenly stops hurting. You're a vampire." He paused, considering something. "At least, that's what the legends say. Like I said, they haven't been around for a while."

I absorbed all of this, and I probably looked a little alarmed, because Simon smiled reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, you're not going to be a vampire. She didn't take enough blood for that." I breathed a sigh of relief.

So vampires were real. Werewolves were real. Raising the dead was real. Witches and wizards were real.

Yeah, and next they were going to tell me fairies were real, too.

**There. Done. And I'm going to go read one of my favorite Mortal Instruments fanfics since they just updated. Review? Then maybe I'll find a way to give you a cyber cookie. Or if you're like me, and don't like cookies, I can find a way to send you a cyber strawberry. With sugar.  
**

**And sorry if there are mistakes. I couldn't be bothered to read through it when I was done.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: EmoTacoFilling, I have not yet decided if you'll get your fairy action. Who knows....Maybe you will.**

**I got mixed reviews about the whole vampire thing, but I just wanted to let you know that vampires aren't going to be a big thing in this story. I just needed something to happen to happen. As for the fairies.......**

**Songs:**

**Follow Me Down- 3OH!3 ft. Neon Hitch (Yes, again.)**

**All The Right Moves- OneRepublic**

For the next week, everyone avoided any subject even remotely related to what had happened. I tried asking Simon about it once, but he'd just grunted and walked away.

Not a very talkative bunch, are they?

Although it was kind of funny, Autumn was always trying to fill the awkward silence with some random fact she knew. Actually, she tried to fill _all_ the silences, even when we wanted them.

But I was starting to learn more about her. Autumn was a very open person, she didn't really hide much. And contrary to my original belief, she was really quite smart. Hence the whole spitting out random facts thing.

I'd also noticed she seemed to have a thing for werewolves. I swear, those were the only kinds of movies she watched. And she was always asking Derek questions about what he could do. Honestly, I was just surprised that he actually answered. I had a strange feeling that if I'd ever asked any of those questions, he would have just glared at me and waited until I shut up before he turned away.

Autumn said that she just wanted to learn more since her dad didn't have much information on them, but I thought otherwise. Like I said, thing for werewolves.

It was obvious that we'd all changed in the two weeks that we'd been here. Simon seemed to be a little more rational, and Derek was a little more outgoing.

Well, I wouldn't call it outgoing, but at least he was actually talking.

I knew that I'd changed too. I'd never been one to purposefully throw myself into dangerous situations unless absolutely necessary, but I was even more cautious now. And yet I was a little more giving, I started actually talking about myself sometimes. I was pretty sure that was Autumn's doing.

But Tori was the one that scared me the most. She was constantly talking anymore, and she wasn't always insulting us. She spent time with us even when she didn't have to, and she actually complimented me once last week and asked if I was okay the first time I finally stepped down the stairs after the little vampire incident. In other words, she was turning into and actual human being.

Which seriously freaked me out.

And didn't I once say the day Tori becomes a normal person will be the day Hell freezes over?

That freaked me out even more. Because if Hell froze over, I would be _so_ screwed.

"Hey, Chloe, can I talk to you for a sec?" Simon said as he popped his head into my room. I nodded and he glanced at Autumn.

"Oh, okay, I get the message. 'Autumn, you don't get to hear this, so get the hell out.' I'm going, I'm going." She teased kindheartedly.

When she was out of the room, Simon came and sat down next to me on the couch that sat at the foot of the bed. He sighed, and I shot him a questioning look. He smiled reassuringly and then took a deep breath, as if he was steeling himself for something. "See, here's the thing Chloe. I'm not sure if I should really tell this, but I feel like I have to. Ever since-"

"CHLOEEE!!!!!!!" A shrill voice interrupted.

I wasn't really sure where this was going, but I kind of wanted to find out. I sighed. "What!?" I shouted back.

"GET YOUR LITTLE PUNY ASS DOWN HERE!!"

"Great, insult my ass just because I'm short." I muttered. Simon smiled. "So, before I go down and face the torture that is Tori, what were you going to tell me?"

"It's nothing, don't worry. Just go downstairs and find out what she wants."

I furrowed my brow and didn't move. "Just tell me what you wanted to tell me, Simon."

He looked confused, like he couldn't decide whether he should tell me or not. "Simon!" I exclaimed. "Just tell me!"

He looked up to the ceiling and I swear I heard him mutter something like "Sweet Holy Jesus" and then suddenly he was right in front of me.

I'm not sure what came over me, but it was some kind of new feeling. And before I knew what either of us were doing, our lips were pressed together.

It started off soft and slow, and warm. But after a few minutes the kiss became heated and we pressed against each other harder, moving together incessantly.

I.

Was.

Kissing.

Simon.

I was literally kissing someone. Simon, of all people. I was kind of surprised, I hadn't really known how badly I wanted this until it had happened. But now that it had, I didn't want it to stop.

But of course, Tori just _had_ to come barging into the room. We broke apart and she stared at us, completely shocked.

"Well I had no idea you were doing _that_. Why didn't you tell me?" She said, sounding indignant.

"Yeah, because I really planned on screaming 'leave me alone, Simon and I are busy making out' down the stairs." I retorted sarcastically. Simon's arms were still around me, and they shook with his laughter.

Tori smiled. "Fine. I guess you probably wouldn't do that, being the shy little good girl." I rolled my eyes. Tori might have changed, but she commented on me any time she felt like it.

Which was perfectly fine by me.

Tori walked out of the room, her footsteps echoing down the hallway. I looked up at Simon to see him already staring down at me. His arms were still around my waist, and mine were both still around his neck.

I blushed at the intensity of his gaze and looked away, but I didn't move, and neither did he.

"Chloe." He said softly. I looked back up at him, and his eyes looked tender and caring. "Was that....okay?"

At first I thought he was talking about the kiss, to which my response was _Hell yes_, but then I realized he was talking just about the fact that we _had_ kissed.

I smiled."Do you even need to ask?" And then I kissed him again.

I'm not sure how we ended up on the couch or how long it lasted, but it seemed like hours before Tori came in to interrupt us again.

"Jeez Chloe, let me know when you need me to go buy you a pregnancy test." I blushed as Simon and I untangled ourselves from each other and sat up. "I just came to tell you guys that dinner's ready. Autumn went all out or something." Then she abruptly walked out of the doorway and back to the kitchen.

Simon looked at me. "Shall we?" He asked, holding out his hand. I know it was kind of cliched, but I also thought it was sweet. Derek gave us a kind of weird look and Autumn sent us an approving smile when we came into the kitchen.

And then I froze, though no one seemed to notice.

What the _hell_ did this mean?

**AHHHH!!!! I just watched Lost, and even though I have seen every single episode there has ever been, I am SO confused!**

**Anyways, that's completely irrelevant. REVIEW!! And tell me what you think of the fairies.....Should we get some some fairy action in here? Ohhh, or maybe some leprechauns! Actually, no, I don't want to do that, because I'm actually kind of afraid of leprechauns.....In my dreams they always have fangs........  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Oh Dear God, I think I've done the worst thing possible. I would explain, but it would take a very LONG time, and it's completely irrelevant to anything you'd ever want to listen to. Which is probably why I didn't need to type any of that, but oh well.**

**So hey, I just found out there's going to be another book in the Darkest Powers series. (Other than the Reckoning, I'm not _that_ stupid.) I guess it's called The Gathering, but it has nothing to do with Chloe or Derek or Simon or any of them. It's the same world, just different characters.**

**Don't you love my little pieces of insight?**

**And just to let you know, this is the last chapter. I'm so sad :( but it also kind of helps me so I don't have to work on so many stories at once.  
**

**Songs:**

**Follow Me Down- 3OH!3 ft. Neon Hitch**

**It Ends Tonight- All American Rejects**

**

* * *

**Confused. That's the only way to explain how I felt all of the next week. Tori kept grinning creepily at me, and half the time Autumn would just randomly start bursting out laughing. Simon was either flirting with me or completely ignoring me, which I really didn't get, and I swear that Derek was almost always staring at autumn.

And this is the part where I scream "What the hell is going on" and then get no answer.

Yeah. I tried that. Didn't go so well.

But hey, I got an answer. Just not a verbal one. They all looked at me like I was insane, and they had no idea what I was talking about, so I just rolled my eyes and walked into another room.

Why is it that the only answers I ever get to questions are weird stares?

"Chloe, can I talk to you?" Autumn's soft voice broke me out of my head. I twisted around to look at her.

"Um.....Sure?"

She smiled. "Great! Come on." She grabbed my arm and pulled me up a few flights of stairs.

Is it sad that I'm starting to get used to that?

When she'd finally gotten me to her room, I plopped down on her bed and folded my arms. She laughed at my expression. "Oh, don't be so dramatic, Chloe."

I quirked an eyebrow. "_I'm_ dramatic? Excuse me? I don't think you're being coherent right now, Autumn. And besides, I went to an art school, remember? I think I have the right to be dramatic."

She rolled her eyes. "I guess you have a point." She amended. "But we're not here to discuss dramaticness. Is that even a word?"

"I don't think so, no."

"Well, anyways, I have a question for you." I gestured for her to go on. She seemed a little embarrassed, which surprised me, as Autumn was so rarely fazed by anything. She took a deep breath, as if she was steeling herself. "How much do you know about Derek?"

This was a completely unexpected question, but I hid my shock and answered. "Not too much. Why?"

She blushed and looked away from me. "Because I.....I just want to know."

I raised my eyebrows. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that you can't seem to stop staring at him?"

She blushed again and mumbled, "Is it really that obvious?"

"No, probably not to Derek. He's totally oblivious in those kind of situations." I told her reassuringly.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. "That's the kind of stuff I need to know. Like, is he going to think I'm a complete idiot if I have a blond moment, or is he going to think I'm a daddy's girl just because-"

"Autumn." I cut her off. "He's not going to think you're a complete idiot if you have one idiotic moment. Have you met me? And you live by yourself most of the time, so no, he's not going to think you're a daddy's girl. Relax. Just don't come on too strong, but you have to make it kind of obvious, otherwise he's not going to know." This was starting to get kind of awkward. "Can I go now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, Chloe, be all nervous and awkward and childish."

"Autumn, you skip down the hallways and sing 'I'm A Little Teapot' when you eat oatmeal. So don't even try to call me childish." I teased, half mocking and half serious.

She rolled her eyes at me again. "Just go," She told me, waving a hand in the direction of the door. I laughed and walked out into the hall, closing her door behind me, only to run into Simon.

He smiled down at me, his brown eyes sparkling. "There you are. I've been looking for you."

I gave him a nervous little smile. "Yeah. I've been up here."

"Come on. I want to show you something." He said, holding a hand out.

I hesitantly took it. "What exactly is it that you want to show me?" I asked meekly.

He grinned. "But if I told you, that would completely ruin the surprise."

"I'm starting to learn that surprises aren't generally the best things anymore." I muttered.

Simon laughed as he led me up a small staircase that I'd never seen before. "Yeah, I guess some surprises aren't so fun. But _certain_ ones still are." He said, glancing back at me and winking.

I rolled my eyes and asked, "Simon, where the heck are we going?"

He smiled mysteriously. "You'll see." And then we abruptly happened upon a door at the top of the staircase. Simon opened it and a sudden gust of wind blew my hair into my face. Simon, who still had my hand in his, led me out of the door.

We were on the roof, though thankfully it was about the only flat part of the whole place.

"This is amazing." I breathed.

Simon glanced at me and smiled. "Thought you'd like it. Kind of like that one time we sat on the roof of that apartment building eating McDonald's. Except the view is way cooler here."

It was true, the view was much nicer. You could see the forest stretch on for miles and miles, but you could still see a hint of the city on the horizon. We sat down somewhere in the middle.

"So."

"What an interesting conversation topic, Simon." I teased.

He gave me a nervous smile and blew out a shaky breath. "What's wrong?"

He looked out at the forest, refusing to look me in the eye. "Look, Chloe, I get that I might have freaked you out last week, but if you didn't want me to do it, that's okay, just tell me."

I know that I could have messed everything up at that moment, but I started laughing. More like giggling, really. And when Simon looked at me with an affronted expression, I just laughed harder.

When I finally stopped giggling like a little schoolgirl, I said, "Simon, this is like those pathetic teen movies where someone thinks the other person doesn't like them and the other person thinks the someone is ignoring them when they really just both like each other."

"....Huh?"

I smiled and leaned in to press my lips to his. After the initial shock, he kissed me back. It was a kiss that took my breath away, and I'm not really sure how long it lasted, but I know we sat up on that roof for a very long time.

* * *

The next few weeks were almost.....normal. Even though I'm kind of afraid to say that word and jinxing it, it's true.

Except for this one day....

Tori and I had gone to that supernatural store again, (thankfully that little girl wasn't there) and when we got back we couldn't hear anything but incredibly loud music coming from the basement. We looked at each other for a second, shrugged, and started walking down the stairs.

Simon was standing on top of the bar, (When we'd asked Autumn about it, she'd just said that her dad had had it built a few years ago for whenever any of his guests wanted it) and he wasn't wearing a shirt. Now, normally, I'd be okay with that, but the fact that he was dancing like a stripper....That was a little scary.

Tori and I just stood there, too shocked to move. When he finally saw us, he said, "Chloe! You're back. We missed you. Hey, come on up here and let's _dance_." When he said the word dance, he shot out his pelvis and then started grinding to the music.

I looked over at Autumn, who was sitting on a couch next to Derek. "What did you give him?" I asked a little grimly.

Her eyes widened and she gave me an innocent look. "Hey, _I_ didn't give him anything. He just found his way into the liquor cabinet....He seems to have taken quite a liking to tequila." She added thoughtfully.

I glanced over at him, ("Hey, Chloe baby, come and dance with your papa!") and then sighed as I plopped down on the couch next to Autumn. Tori just stood there, looking at Simon with an eyebrow raised and a disdained look on her face. All she said was, "He's gonna have a killer hangover in the morning."

**I know, I know, crappy way to end it. But I did promise you a drunk Simon, didn't I?**


End file.
